Prosecutor clears Bald Knob chief in shooting BALD KNOB (AP) — A prosecutor has cleared the Bald Knob police chief in a shooting that wounded a woman at a convenience store. Prosecuting attorney Chris Raff said Chief Tim Sanford was justified in his use of force in the March 24 shooting of 34-year-old Amy Renee Collins of Cave City. According to police, Sanford was investigating a reported stabbing at the convenience store when he shot Collins after she allegedly ran toward him with a kni...

Attorney general's office makes child porn arrest LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas attorney general's office has arrested a Little Rock man for possession of child pornography. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announced Tuesday that 52-year-old Christopher L. Boyd is charged with 30 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing child pornography. Boyd was awaiting a bond hearing and was held in the Pulaski County Jail. It was unknown whether he has an attorney. Agents served a search warrant a...

Gunman kills 3, wounds 16 at Fort Hood Army base FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — A soldier opened fire Wednesday on fellow service members at the Fort Hood military base, killing three people and wounding 16 before committing suicide at the same post where more than a dozen people were slain in a 2009 attack, authorities said. The shooter, who served in Iraq in 2011, had been undergoing an assessment to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley, th...

One million dollar bond set for suspectA traffic stop on Sunday, March 30, led to a short foot pursuit with a Clarksville resident being arrested on multiple felony offenses. Deputy Curtis Bishop was dispatched to County Road 3341 on a citizens complaint of a suspicious vehicle. Upon arriving in the area, Deputy Bishop located the vehicle and after following it and observing it had no license plates, Deputy Bishop stopped the vehicle, a Cadillac Escalade on State Hwy 352 near Highw...

Louisiana senator: 'Chicken boxing' is not cockfighting BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana senator is opposing a bill that would close loopholes in a state cockfighting ban, saying it threatens the legitimate, less bloody sport of "chicken boxing." The criticism from Republican Sen. Elbert Guillory, of Opelousas, seemed to confuse senate judiciary committee members and stunned New Orleans Sen. J.P. Morrell, a Democrat from New Orleans who proposed the loophole-closing bill. Chicken boxing? Guillor...

Police: Man spent days with corpses in Nevada home NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — A 30-year-old man accused of killing his mother and sister in their North Las Vegas home spent a couple of days dismembering one of the bodies and trying to clean up the bloody scene, a police official said Tuesday. Darius Davon Sorrells lived for at least several days with the two corpses at the two-story stucco home before he was arrested early Saturday after a chance run-in with police and a brief high-speed tra...

PG&E criminally charged in fatal pipeline blast SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was charged on Tuesday with federal felony counts involving safety violations linked to a deadly 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area. The indictment charges the utility with 12 felony violations of federal pipeline safety laws, which could carry a total possible fine of $6 million, or more if the court decides it somehow benefited financially from the disaster. Fed...

Savings and loan figure Charles Keating dies at 90 PHOENIX (AP) — The financier who was disgraced for his role in the costliest savings and loan failure of the 1980s has died. Charles H. Keating Jr. was 90. A person with direct knowledge of the death confirmed that Keating died but didn't provide further details. The person wasn't authorized to release the information and spoke on condition of anonymity. The collapse of the thrift that Keating's home construction company bought cost taxpayers ...

Man claiming to be officer threatens woman WILTON (AP) — A southwest Arkansas woman says a man claiming to be a law enforcement officer threatened her unless she provided him with explicit photos of herself. The Texarkana Gazette reported the Wilton woman, 21, called Little River County authorities about 3 a.m. Thursday to report the threats from calls to her cellphone and in text messages. A police report says the woman told investigators that the man threatened to kill her if she cal...

Oklahoma woman charged in deaths of 2 women, girl OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma woman was charged Friday in the 1992 deaths of her grandson's mother, another woman and a 6-year-old girl whose bodies were found buried last year in a hole that had been dug for a septic tank. Beverly Noe was ordered held without bond after being charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 23-year-old Wendy Camp, Camp's 6-year-old daughter Cynthia Britto and Camp's 22-year-old sister-in-l...

Jonesboro police seek clothes thief JONESBORO (AP) — Police in Jonesboro are searching for a man who's suspected of stealing and selling the clothing of his ex-girlfriend. The Jonesboro Sun reported the woman told investigators that her ex-boyfriend stole more than $1,000 of her clothing and that she found the clothes at an up-scale second hand store. Police say the store's records show that the man made 20-30 visits to the store from Jan. 21-March 22 and sold clothing that incl...

Justice of peace charged with battery PARAGOULD (AP) — A Greene County justice of the peace has been charged with felony second-degree battery for allegedly hitting the county judge. Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington said in a news release Ronnie Wood, 57, was charged following a state police investigation into allegations that Wood pushed and struck County Judge Jerry Shipman in January at a meeting where county officials were discussing road improvements in the county. A phon...

Arkansas public defenders note high caseload JONESBORO (AP) — Public defenders in Jonesboro say they are concerned about the high volume of cases their office handles. The three full-time public defenders in northeastern Arkansas' Craighead County are handling nearly 600 felony cases, and another 340 cases are handled by part-time public defenders, The Jonesboro Sun reported Friday. "We're obviously concerned, and we could always use more people," said Bill Howard, who manages the public...

County judge facing federal charges to resign CAMDEN (AP) — Ouachita County Judge Mike Hesterly — who is facing federal bribery and conspiracy charges — has announced plans to resign. The El Dorado News-Times reported that Hesterly said in a letter of resignation that he will resign April 3 because of "health problems, current circumstances and other concerns." Hesterly and contractor Harry Clemons Jr. of Bearden were charged in January with conspiring to award a federal disaster-relief g...

Home of Little River County deputy burglarized ASHDOWN (AP) — The home of Little River County Chief Deputy Sheriff Lee Sullivan near Ashdown was burglarized and several of his police uniform shirts are among the items taken. Sheriff Gary Gregory told the Texarkana Gazette authorities are concerned the burglar may use the uniform shirts to impersonate a law officer. Sullivan reported the burglary shortly before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday after he returned home. Other items taken include about 100 ...

Man claims self-defense in fatal shooting VAN BUREN (AP) — A Crawford County man charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his father says he shot in self-defense. The Times Record reported that Eddie Hice, 54, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the murder charge and a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm in the March 13 shooting death of Herschel Hice, 76, at the home he shared with his parents. Eddie Hice said he shot his father after the father put a pist...

All homicide victims are black in state capital LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The mayor is calling for a task force to study black-on-black crime in Little Rock, where all of this year's 11 slayings have involved black victims and lead suspects. But the city's police chief said factors other than race — including the economy — are in play. Mayor Mark Stodola announced last week that he is forming a team to analyze current programs helping the city's poverty, education and other issues to seek collabor...

Capital sees fourth bank robbery in 3 daysLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Police say yet another bank in Arkansas' capital city has been robbed this week, making it the ourth such heist in Little Rock in the past three days. Police spokesman Lt. Sidney Allen says the robbery happened at a Metropolitan Bank branch Wednesday after a man walked inside a branch and displayed a note to a teller demanding money. Allen says no injuries were reported. The string of robberies this week began Monday, when a...

Bono fined for violating overtime wages law BONO (AP) — The city of Bono has been fined more $54,000 for violating the federal overtime wages law and for poor record keeping. City Attorney Jeff Scriber told The Jonesboro Sun the city is being fined $54,062 for violating the overtime wage laws with the police department. The city has 90 days to pay the fine. The U.S. Department of Labor began investigating when former Police Chief Robert Jones said the city had failed to follow the law a...